Product reviewed: Vidalia Chop Wizard
I’m not usually a sucker for “As Seen On TV” products, but if there’s a tool that will save me time in the kitchen, I want to try it out. The Vidalia Chop Wizard boasts that it’s the “fastest/safest/easiest way to chop or dice fruits, vegetables & more! With one swift motion.” Sounds pretty great to me, especially since I love adding onion to pretty much every recipe, but not so much the watery eyes and dripping nose that usually come along with the task.
The Vidalia Chop Wizard comes with a clear base with measurement lines, a chopper blade, a dicer blade and a cleaning tool, all of which are top-shelf dishwasher safe. While primarily designed to chop onions (hence the name), the instructions note that it can be used to chop other fruits and vegetables, including peppers, mushrooms, carrots, potatoes, apples and pears, as well as hard-boiled eggs.
I tried the chopper with a few different vegetables, including onions, carrots and sweet potatoes, and overall had good results with evenly chopped and diced vegetables and no teary eyes. I especially liked that the base has measurement lines from ½ cup to 2 cups, which made it easier to know when I had enough of the particular ingredient and saved me from having to wash measuring cups.
I wasn’t sold on the “one swift motion” advertised on the box. I found it hard to push the lid down completely to get the veggies through the grates, which sometimes meant multiple attempts at getting my veggies chopped. Harder vegetables such as sweet potatoes had to be cut into smaller pieces to be able to work, and on occasion part of the vegetable (like the top layer of an onion) would get stuck in the blade.
Overall the chopper is handy to have in the kitchen, especially if you are using it with softer vegetables and fruits. 
It certainly made meal prep faster and easier and, for people who may otherwise skip adding vegetables to their dishes, this is a great tool to encourage increased vegetable consumption.
